Harlequins hopeful of retaining links with Abu Dhabi

Martyn Thomas 07:56 21/08/2014
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  • Keen to keep UAE ties: Conor O’Shea believes the two clubs have very strong links.

     Harlequins director of rugby Conor O’Shea is confident the club can retain close ties to the UAE, de­spite seeing their association with Etihad come to an end.

    Etihad announced in June that it would not be renewing its seven-year relationship with Quins that had seen the company’s logo embla­zoned on the team’s kit and at their ground, The Stoop.

    The tie-up had also brought the west London club to Abu Dhabi on several occasions to take part in coaching sessions, while links with the Abu Dhabi Harlequins (for­merly Abu Dhabi Bats) had been fostered.

    And O’Shea is hopeful the rela­tionships formed on such trips do not automatically come to an end just because Etihad are no longer his club’s lead sponsor.

    “One of our big drivers is our affiliate clubs,” the former Ireland international full-back said. “Will Skinner (the club’s affiliate manager) is in charge of setting up the whole network and he’s doing a great job on that and I think Etihad still have a box at The Stoop. 

    "Hope­fully the relationship is there that there will still be a very strong link between us and Abu Dhabi anyway. Because I think it’s one that we’ve all enjoyed over the last couple of years and I’d be pretty hopeful that we can have a good relationship with both Etihad and Abu Dhabi Quins.”

    The affiliation between Quins and their Abu Dhabi counterparts has already seen promising centre Iziq Foa’i spend two spells in west London. Foa’i took part in both the Premiership 7s and World Club 7s for Quins. Playing from the bench he was unable to prevent them slip­ping to defeat in the Shield final against Seattle at Twickenham last weekend.

    However, the Abu Dhabi school­boy did produce one late break against New York that led to a try on day one, and O’Shea admits he will be keeping a “watching eye” on Foa’i.

    “Izzy’s got a lot of potential, a lot of potential,” he said. “He’s a big guy and he can play back row or centre and we just want to have a look at him. He’s up at St Helens now, I think, having a little dabble up there. There’s no doubt if he gets the intensity of the levels he plays at up he has a lot to offer.”

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